Jazz in Uruguay
Every year the International Jazz Day is celebrated on April 30th and Jazz in Uruguay is also getting ready for the celebrations. Jazz in Uruguay has been celebrated since 2012 but the International Jazz Day has been created in 2011. These celebrations were created by the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova and the legendary pianist and composer Herbie Hancock, who is the goodwill ambassador of UNESCO and made emphasis on the importance of having a special day for Jazz. Irina Bokova who was last year in Montevideo was invited to several Jazz celebrations and mentioned that Jazz in Uruguay has raised awareness of the need for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding and strengthen cooperation and communication to promote peace and dialogue between cultures.
This day brings together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics and jazz enthusiasts from around the world to celebrate and learn how to communicate about jazz and its roots, the future and impact of Jazz in Uruguay as well.
Celebrations
Not only there will be Jazz in Uruguay but this is a worldwide celebration. It is a moment where great musicians gather and share the same music jazz as a universal language.
Phillipe Pinet, head of Jazz in Uruguay Tour, is planning what will be the 15th anniversary of the cycle. Several activities are planned but one of the most important will be held on the 30th of April 2014.
In Uruguay Jazz celebrations will last several days this year and will consist of several activities, most of them at the Teatro Solis in Montevideo.
It will start at the Zitarrosa Hall with an event organized by the Uruguayan Association of Musicians (AUDEM) and on Wednesday, April 30th the cycle Jazz Tour will give a conference and show with high level international performances.
There will be an opening lecture at 6pm on “How to listen to jazz,” which will be presented by Mr. Pintos, president of Hot Club of Montevideo which will also have playing musicians of the institution.
Then, at 7pm at the Zavala Muniz hall the accordionist Daniel Mille from France and Avishai Cohen Trio from Israel will take part of these celebrations. Also special guests such as the Uruguayan Hector Hugo Fattoruso will be playing at the event in the main hall of the Teatro Solis in Montevideo together with a base of musicians from the Hot Club of Montevideo.
Finally, at 9 pm there will be a performance in the main room of the theater, the trio of bassist Avishai Cohen Israeli Nita with Hershkovits on piano and Daniel Dor on drums.
The show consists of classics from legendary composers such as Charlie Parker, Erroll Garner, as well as Linale. The Big Band consists of 17 musicians and three singers sharing the stage.
Jazz in Punta Del Este
Jazz in Uruguay has always been celebrated with different and original proposals every year. One example is the International Jazz Festival Punta del Este that has been offering Jazz Festivals in the wonderful space at farm El Sosiego located in Punta Ballena. With the musical direction of the Cuban clarinetist and saxophonist Paquito D’ Rivera this event is a classic every summer.
